Desert Terrain

One of the most inhospitable areas on the face of our planet. In the case of a zombie apocalypse, one of the safest to be in. It attracts almost no one, both human and zombie like, so chances are you’ll be seeing less of both flesh eating ghouls and marauding bands of survivors. The flip side is, almost no one will be able to help you there too.

Do not go into the desert alone, if you have a group of survivors with you, then please keep the desert in mind. If you build your compound on a hill you will be the king of the desert. With a simple pair of binoculars you’ll be able to see miles and miles in every direction and thereby be prepared in advance of any possible intrusion into your space.

Smelling the zombies looses its factor in the desert as the sand will often block your nose and the stench of your sweat will keep you otherwise preoccupied. In the desert you will have to use desert power and for you to be able to do that you’ll need to camouflage your compound real good, thankfully sand and easy-to-brake rock is sorta easy to work with so that shouldn’t be a problem. Getting the sand out of your clothes however.. Be careful you don’t have shiny objects lying around or God forbid hanging from somewhere. Both zombies and humans will see that and start coming your way, and we don’t want that.

In deserts, days are very hot and night very cold. This is because there are almost no clouds; clouds protect you from excessive sun and keep the air warm at night… they are a buffer. Try to use the ends and beginnings of daytime and the starts and endings of nighttime as much as you can, you will use a lot less water during daytime and won’t freeze at night.

Daytime should be your leisure time (you know.. sharpening weapons… thinking of and making traps). A small portion of the world’s deserts are actually sand deserts; you will find gravel deserts, rock and dried up mud deserts also. If the temperature does not vary significantly from day to night there will be a lot less moisture in the air; less moisture means less water, meaning less plants and animals. Worry not, soon you’ll know how to find water in the desert ;).

If you bring enough water to the desert with you, you’ll have enough time to build a well or two around (or inside) your desired camp location. DO NOT DIG during daytime, I know I’ve said it before… but it’s extremely important. Dig between two dunes, at the lowest points and be prepared to dig very deep. Also, if you find a dried up stream in your vicinity try digging a well there; even if it’s far away from your headquarters, zombies won’t bother with it cause they don’t need water. You’ll be able to retrieve water from there when needed.

Every plant you see in the desert is a water source. You can dig it out and use the roots of the plant as a water source or you can put a bag around the branches of the plant and let the plastic bag slowly suck out water from the branch. If you’re very thirsty the little things will help you a lot, for instance, put a button in your mouth and suck on it. You won’t be so thirsty while doing that. Be careful when collecting water from cacti, some are very poisonous so you’ll have to distill or re-condensate the water at least.

Clothing is also of utmost importance! Do not go around in shorts and sandals all happy camper like. Cover your entire body! You ever see in the movies how the Arabs dress? Very loose clothing is the key to surviving deserts. Have two layers of clothes on you, always cover your head, always cover your feet and try to have a good pair of sunglasses or goggles.

Oh yeah! When building your compound try to make a lot of walls so the wind won’t get in so easy.

Always keep in mind that zombies don’t care for water, the sun doesn’t damage them as much as it does you and they don’t need to rest. So basically, only go to the deserts if you’re really, really prepared or extremely desperate.